NTSB: Navy will find sunken ship, locate key data recorder

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — U.S. safety investigators say the U.S. Navy soon will set out to find the cargo ship sunk in Hurricane Joaquin and locate a data recorder critical to determining why it went down.

National Transportation Safety Board vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr told reporters Thursday the Navy would use sonar and other means to find the 790-foot El Faro on the sea floor. The ship sank in about 15,000 feet of water Oct. 1 with 33 people aboard east of the Bahamas.

The Coast Guard called off a search for possible survivors Wednesday.

Dinh-Zarr said assuming the ship is found, Navy remote-controlled diving vehicles would be able to bring the data recorder to the surface. Dinh-Zarr said there was no definite timetable yet for the Navy work to begin.